Exactly how bad is this psu?

Hi, I (just today in fact) have gotten another horrified response when someone read my signature and saw the psu I was running. It appears to be a fire hazard. Another poster pointed to poor quality of build design and parts.

Now I haven't seen any direct reviews of this psu except on the usual large online retailers (you know who I mean) but I did read an independent review, from someone who seems knowledgeable, about a different model from the same company. It was a disaster. All of this reading was done post purchase, and now I find myself wondering... "Exactly how bad is this piece?" I'm just amazed that it is so universally reviled! And immediately too! Someone tell me what's going on here please?

Also in my search for a new psu I ran across many things that I had no idea about. Ripple for instance has always been a type of potato chip, not a measure of electrical stability. And while I do ha e questions about ripple, I think I have a handle on the basics. Where I get confused is in the "protection " heading. Apparently these 3 letter abbreviations are more than psu raincoats, but I do find D some of the terminology hard to follow. Is there a guide on these terms I could read?

Terminology

SCP - Short circuit protection
OPP - Overpower (overload) protection
OCP - Overcurrent protection
OTP - Overtemperature protection
OVP - Overvoltage protection
UVP - Undervoltage protection
UPS - Uninterruptable Power Supply
PSU - Power Supply Unit
SMPSU - Switch-Mode Power Supply Unit

IMO JonnyGuru is a respected site when it come to power supplies. OklahomaWolf (a member here at OCForums) reviewed the Diablotek RPM-1050 and found it to be a really bad unit, so bad that it failed during testing. Here's the LINK
They also have a Power Supply FAQ you may find helpful.

JLK03F150 said:

IMO JonnyGuru is a respected site when it come to power supplies. OklahomaWolf (a member here at OCForums) reviewed the Diablotek RPM-1050 and found it to be a really bad unit, so bad that it failed during testing. Here's the LINK
They also have a Power Supply FAQ you may find helpful.

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Yep that's the one I read! Say company, different unit, but judging by some of the issues I am having other folks are blaming the psu. I blame it now as well... Like I said, I've got a line of another. I've read good and bad about the new one. One report I read said the ripple was terrible. Johnny guru reviewed one upstream (1200W instead of 1000W) and the ripple was in spec, but not excellent. Just good. But that's good enough for me. If the one I'm looking at falls through, then I've got alternates picked, but they don't leave as much room for my system to grow later on.

And thanks for the terminology clarification. I don't know why but I could only find one of those terms.

What PSU are you looking at? We may be able to recommend a better one for your needs.

Why in the world did you buy a 1000W PSU???

you have need of only a "quality" 550 watt at most and those can be found pretty cheap.

caddi daddi said:

you have need of only a "quality" 550 watt at most and those can be found pretty cheap.

Click to expand...

This.
Seasonic G-550 is my go-to for that, typically around $80.

ATMINSIDE said:

Why in the world did you buy a 1000W PSU???

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I got a big boy because I want to be able to move it to future builds. And Im banking in the higher efficiency, better cooling to make my life easier. I replace parts piecemeal over long periods of time, so this is pretty much the first piece of a new build. Next time I can afford a new toy it'll probably be the GPu, then a new mobo/ram combo and last a cpu. I know it's kind of bass-akwards, but it works kind of in a cycle that way. Of course if I find a dynamite bargain on a cpu first.... It's kinda of live off the land strategy I guess I do know that my components have business anywhere near a 1000W psu.

Edit: also the alternates I am looking into are a bit smaller. Ideally I think a 750w is the right fit, keeping room to grow in mind.

You're actually nowhere near the efficient range of a PSU because you have so much extra wattage.
And you could run an overclocked 4790K and two GTX 980's off of 600W all day long and be more than safe.

Oh well don't I feel silly then I thought the efficient range was 40% + ? The gold efficiency was a rather large factor... Well this is a thinker. I will probably still need room to grow, but is it a real bad choice to overshoot so much, or just unnecessary? I can live with unnecessary, but I don't want to hurt my system or pay more than need be.

It's just unnecessary. Like I say though, you can dial back a lot of size and still have room to grow. A nice 750W (SuperNova G2) would be pretty ideal to grow in to.

But, if you're happy with it, go for it.

750 was my original goal, but I found one I liked the price on ya know? Thanks for the quick reply: if it had been a detrimental instead of unnecessary I still have time to pull out because of the holiday weekend.

Which exact unit did you order btw? I don't think I saw it mentioned.

I didn't say, it's a cooler Master Silent pro gold though. The big reason I don't wanna back down is because ( I think) I scored a real good deal on it (it's not final yet so I would t say how good ) And I REALLY like the additional 7V rail , because I'd really like to avoid an additional fan controller but I don't think I'll be able to tame the beasts any other way. I do t know if you caught my update in the thread where I was asking about fans in the first place, but I've made a decision about placement and sizes.

Ooh! While your right here.... Is there any brand that is better than the others for thermal monitoring? Cables I mean, for the thermal Controls on the mobo? I'm still going to have to read the manual to get a real handle on how that actually works, but I do like to have an eye on my temps. And I think the fans regulating themselves based on temps sounds awesome too

Not the best unit, but it's nowhere near a fire hazard

Not sure what you mean by cables for thermal monitoring?

ummm..... Im looking for my copy of the mobo manual right now to see what the proper name is... basically next to each fan header is a header for a thermal sensor ...fuse cable? it measures the temp of the mobo and reports it , either through software or to the bios,and helps the fans function at a speed taht is appropriate to maintain a predetermined temp... automatically. Im not very sure myself and was figuring such a thing would be known to you guys. Keep in mind these are all 3 pin headers not PWM, but apparently the board can control them if configured properly. It also has the ability to monitor and notify (with the proper cabling done I guess). Ill save it for when the build is done and make a whole post out of the whole thing for those as are interested in such things

Edit: If my psu falls through , the Supernova looks like a solid alternate. If it does fall through Ill post about a few other ones Ive been looking at and see what you guys think.

Just find the manual on the manufacturer's website

View attachment 162039

Lets see if I can manage to put a pic in here with descent quality.....

I had it on the comp somewhere (the manual) but it did end up being easier to redownload. Thermal sensor cables. Im not sure exactly how they are going to work. Seems like I just get the add on cable and stick it between the TEMP header and the fan. fThis board has more headers than I am used to seeing and Im not quite sure if Im understanding the manual correctly.